Birth Date: 1924-January-27
Born:
Albert Ernest & Annie Elizabeth Rosetta Clarke, of Camberwell, London, England.
Home:
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RAFVR
Unit
19 SFTS- Service Flying Training School
Base
Vulcan, Alberta, Canada
Rank
Pilot Officer
Position
Flight Sergeant
Service Numbers
190045
Anson 7399 crashed for obscure reasons although low flying was suspected as the most likely cause of the accident.
Killed includes Clarke:LAC Bernard Dennant Mays RAF KIFA, aircraft crashed 11 mi. North-East of Carmangay, Alberta Vulcan Cemetery, Vulcan Alberta.
The Avro Anson was known by a number of nicknames including "Faithful Annie" or "Flying Greenhouse". It was the first aircraft to be flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force to have a retractable undercarriage, which was a comparative novelty in 1936. In 1940, a Canadian government owned company, Federal Aircraft Limited, was created in Montreal to manufacture the Anson for Canadian use. Nearly 3,000 Anson aircraft were produced and, in the early days of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), the Anson was the standard trainer for many pilots, observers (navigators), wireless operators and bomb aimers. More than 20,000 aircrew received training on the Anson. In Canadian service, the aircraft was substantially re-designed with the substitution of North American engines and many other airframe and equipment changes.Harold Skaarup web pages
Graduates of the EFTS "learn-to-fly" program went on a Service Flying Training School (SFTS) for 16 weeks. For the first 8 weeks the trainee was part of an intermediate training squadron; for the next 6 weeks an advanced training squadron and for the final 2 weeks training was conducted at a Bombing & Gunnery School. The Service schools were military establishments run by the RCAF or the RAF.
There were two different types of Service Flying Training Schools. Trainees in the fighter pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 14 Aylmer, where they trained in the North American Harvard or North American Yale. Trainees in the bomber, coastal or transport pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 5 Brantford where they learned multi-engine technique in an Airspeed Oxford, Avro Anson or Cessna Crane.
For More Information on RCAF Station Vulcan see here
RCAF.Info - RCAF Station Vulcan AB
RCAF.Info - Relief Landing Field Ensign AB
RCAF.Info - Relief Landing Field Champion AB
Vulcan Cemetery
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)
Harold A Skaarup Web Page
Avro Anson History
Vintage Wings - Ghosts Of Southern Alberta